


Creamed Spinach: The Collected Works

by sarah_dude



Category: Carol (2015), The Price of Salt - Patricia Highsmith
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Headcanon, Mini fics
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-06
Updated: 2016-04-01
Packaged: 2018-05-25 02:39:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 6,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6176911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarah_dude/pseuds/sarah_dude
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>I've been writing mini fics and headcanons on Tumblr and someone asked me if I'd make a collection of them here, so I have! </p><p>Please note that the 'Authors Note' for each chapter will contain the prompt I received in my ask box.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Caring for each other while ill.

“I’m sorry.” 

Therese startled and spun to face Carol from where she’d been heating some milk on their stove.

“For the hundredth time Carol, you weren’t to know.” She made to move back to the oven, but under Carols firm but gentle hands she allowed herself to be led back into the bedroom where Carol left her in the doorway to finish what she had started.

She sighed, but walked over to the bed and reluctantly got back underneath the covers, clearing away a pile of books Carol had left in the middle of duvet. She fussed over the folded pages and creased covers, making sure to flatten them all out, before leaning over to Carol’s bedside table and placing them neatly next to her glass of water.

There was a fire racing up and down her arms, legs, and her torso and chest felt tight and tender. Her hands clenched where they rested in her lap and shook as she fought to keep them still. She gratefully took Carol entering their bedroom clad in only a loose shirt and socks as a much needed distraction. She carried two mugs of warm milk as well as a few slices of toast and fruit. 

“I thought we could have a bite now, and the fruit’ll keep till later so we don’t need to get up again.”

“Carol.” Therese sighed. “You needn’t stay in bed with me while I’m ill.”

“Oh but Therese I do.” Carol looked so tenderly at Therese she felt it like a physical caress. “It’s my fault you have chicken pox my darling, so I’m damn well going to keep you company till you get better.”

Therese opened her mouth to contest the ridiculous notion that it was Carol’s fault, but Carol just promptly placed a slice of well buttered toast in there instead of letting her speak.

“Plus I need to keep an eye on you scratching, you’re worse than Rindy.”

Therese bite into the toast and petulantly pulled it away, talking through her full mouth. “That first day we nearly had to wrap flannel over her hands to stop her scratching raw you know.”

Carol smiled patiently. “Do I need to wrap up your hands so you wont scar the spots?!” There was humour in every word and Therese felt silly, suddenly incredibly young and vulnerable, and she ate the rest of her toast without even tasting it. 

Carol must have noticed the shift in her demeanour because she slowly started to wrap her up in a hug. Covers were pulled up and Carol’s fingers gently unclenched Therese’s tight fists and interlocked their fingers. 

“Think of it this way,” Carol shifted them until they were spooning and her chin rested on Therese’s shoulder. “This way I can stop you scratching _and_ help you break this pesky fever.”

“I wasn’t scratching.”

“Oh I know.” There was a pause. “But just let me hold you, ok?”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sharing a dessert CAROL X THERESE

The cupcake was delivered without much fanfare, almost as if it were an after thought and, if it were not for the way Therese carefully held it in two hands until it was settled safely on the table, Carol wouldn’t have questioned it. 

“Well now, what’s this?”

Therese shrugged shyly and slipped back into her chair across from Carol. 

“Happy anniversary?” 

Carol’s eyebrow quirked slightly, before furrowing. “Darling that’s not for another couple of months.” 

Therese smiled and looked at her fingers, picking nervously at a the side of her nail. She’d have to ask Carol to reapply the varnish, it had chipped under the worrying.

“Happy, I saw you for the first time 2 years ago to the day then.”

 Carol let her head fall back and let out a bark of laughter. 

“Marvellous.” She let her finger flick through the icing and sucked on it, a little pleased noise escaping her at the sweet taste. “Are we doing this with all firsts? There’s first kisses to celebrate, first arguments…we could have a lot more desserts in our life this year.” 

“Well, if you’re going to mock the sentiment-” Therese reached out in good humour to take the cake back, but Carol got there first.

“Oh no no, don’t you dare, this is my cake I’m having it.” Carol lifted it up to take a huge bite, not caring that the icing smudged against her nose and cheek. She hummed happily. “Look, I had my cake and ate it too! Who said a I couldn’t have it all.” 

Therese scoffed and rolled her eyes.

“Although having all this cake might be too much for me. Have a bite darling, it’s delicious.”

Carol pushed the half decimated cupcake across the table, and suddenly Therese was very happy that she’d followed through on her silly idea. She lifted the cake and bit into it happily, smiling as she chewed at Carol who was licking her finger and dabbing up crumbs from the tabletop. 

“What are your plans for the evening?” Carol stood up, and deposited the rest of their glasses and plates in the sink, continuing the task Therese had started before she’d set down the dessert. 

“I have a few films to develop from the weekend. Thought I’d read a bit, you?” 

“Hmmm,” Carol said, “I have a phone call with Rindy in a half hour, then I think I’ll have a bath. Join me?”

Therese nodded, and unable to wait any longer, kissed the icing off Carol’s cheek.

“Wouldn’t miss it.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cuddling in a blanket fort for belivaird please:).

“Oh my! How long was I gone?!” Carol exclaimed as she walked in through the front door. “What on Earth is this?” 

“Momma!” Rindy’s head popped up from the centre of what appeared to be an impressively sturdy fort constructed out of spare bed linens and blankets. Her hair was wild and unkempt, and Carol knew she’d have to spend double the time this evening brushing it this evening to tackle the knots. “Did you get the milk?” 

Carol gasped, and toed off her shoes. “Oh no!”

“Mommy!” Rindy giggled, “Don’t be silly!” 

Carol laughed and walked over to cup her cheek affectionately. “You did send me out with very specific instructions, darling.” 

“Can we drink the hot chocolate in the castle _please_?” 

Carol looked over the living room with a critical eye. “Is that what we’re calling it?” 

“Carol?” Therese’s muffled voice rose out of a pile of pillows. “That you?” 

Rindy squealed. “Oh no! You woke the Dragon!” 

Carol raised her eyebrow. “ The Dragon?”

Rindy giggled and jumped up and down. “I’m the Princess and Therese is the Dragon!” 

“Is she indeed?” 

Therese finally popped her head up next to Rindy and after shooting Carol a quick grin, begun to tickle her sides, peals of laughter breaking free from both of them. 

Carol laughed lightly pulled herself away from watching to go into the kitchen and heat up the milk. Once the pan was warming she closed her eyes and let the shrieks of laughter wash over her like a balm.  

She could never have hoped that things would have worked out this marvellously. 

She broke chocolate into small pieces and added them to the steaming milk chunk by chunk, stirring round and round until it melted in. Reaching up to the cupboard she grabbed three small cups and poured an even amount in each. 

“Dragon?” She called over her shoulder. “Will you please come and assist your Queen?” 

The laughter died down and a moment later Therese was behind her, flushed red from exertion. 

“My Queen?” She rose a eyebrow and Carol ignored her own light blush. 

Carol said nothing, but transferred two cups into waiting hands, and together they walked back into the living room.

“Princess,” Carol called. “We bring refreshments.” 

With a bit of manoeuvring (and only one muttered curse) they managed to arrange themselves into the middle of the blankets with their hot chocolates.

They began to unwind and relax when Rindy perked up again. 

“What if the Dragon is only a Dragon because it’s under a curse? And it just wants to _play_ with the princess?”

Therese shot Carol a quick glance and then looked at Rindy. Carefully she spoke. 

“Would you like to play more with the Dragon?”

“No.” Rindy said decisively. “But I should like to play more with you.” 

Carol slowly reached out her hand and gripped Therese’s upper arm tightly.

“Rindy?” Carol asked, “What are you suggesting baby?” 

“Duh,” Rindy rolled her eyes. “All curses are broken by true loves kiss.” 

Carol flushed but smiled happily. “Well then, you heard the Princess, darling.” She leant forward and placed a delicate but lingering kiss on Therese’s cheek.

“Ew,” Both Carol and Therese faced Rindy, who’d wrinkled her nose. “I meant a kiss from me, everyone knows the _Princesses_ break the curse Mommy.”

“Oh.” Therese froze, but then exhaled at Rindy giggles.

“But I guess a kiss from the Queen works too if its True Love.” 

“Well,” Therese said, unsure how to approach what could be a big conversation “I do feel remarkable human?” 

Rindy handed her empty mug to Carol before clambering over and onto Therese lap.

“Good. Human’s give better hugs than Dragons.”

Therese carefully wrapped her arms around the small body and looked over her head to see what Carol was thinking, and found herself breathless at the look of love Carol offered. Shrugging her shoulder carefully she shot Carol a rueful grin.

“And they all lived happily ever after?” 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Format for this chapter is slightly different. Instead of giving you 5 very small separate chapters, I've combined all the headcanons with a similar theme into one chapter.
> 
> THE WRITING IN BOLD IS NOT MINE! It is the prompt I received in my ask box on tumblr, and the writing underneath is my expansion. 
> 
> Any questions? Leave a comment and I'll get back to you asap.

**Anonymous asked: can we talk about game night at the Aird-Belivet household? like an innocent game on uno turns into a warzone with Abby and Carol getting super competitive and Therese and Rindy just snickering at them. "Ha, Draw 4 you old hag" "ABBY!!" "sorry, Draw 4 doodoo head". while both of them quarrel, Rindy calls out UNO and Therese bursts out laughing, of course Rindy ends up winning first and Carol hoists her on her shoulders proclaiming "THATS MY GIRL"**

Monopoly is the worst. Therese actually has to ban it from the house one Christmas after Abby made a joke about Carol forgetting to ask for rent because she was too busy playing footsie under the table and Rindy made a shrewd observation about Aunt Abby only winning when she was the Banker.

Long story short, Therese isn’t entirely clear how it turned into a drinking game, but Rindy ended up asleep before the game finished and Therese packed up what was left of the pieces and hid them while Carol and Abby slept of the floor and sofa respectively.

* * *

  **Anonymous asked: Therese has to ban it because she is the actual best at monopoly and if she continues to win Carol might actually leave her (not really tho). Like she is always the first to put up houses and Carol tries to flirt her way around paying rent but Therese is unforgiving. Abby always ends up losing the most in monopoly so she deems it a game not made for gentle folk like her.**

“Darling, I’ll pay for the next 5 meals out if you just turn a blind eye to Pall Mall.”

“Carol…”

“Or that thing you liked a few weeks ago? I’ll do that again.”

“Carol, your daughter is in the kitchen and you still owe me.”

Abby is just tossing back martinis from the set she bought Carol as a house warming present. The game is only on its fourth round and somehow she’s only got three bank notes left but damn it she’s also got Mayfair and that’s going to count for something. (It doesn’t. Rindy lands on it a few rolls later and happily passes the dice on to Carol who gleefully rolls before Abby can fully understand what’s happened. Another martini gets poured and enemy lines are established)

* * *

**Anonymous asked: OH MY GOD MONOPOLY! alright so Rindy gets the adults hooked on these board games right? so Abby brings her red head over and all four of them hunker down in the living room, drinks in hand, with real money on the line and they all start playing. As the people get more and more drunk, the more fun the game starts becoming and it very quickly turns into strip monopoly. (Therese usually has control over the game board and is purposefully making Carol lose every last piece of her clothing)**

“If you want a hotel it’s either both stockings or you give me your shirt and the change is your scarf back.”

Therese is sat in a pile of clothing, she’s tipsy as hell, but that doesn’t tamper with her ability to barter. Abby is wondering at what point Carol even put her fur coat _on_ never mind paid for landing on King’s Cross with it. The poor redhead is getting the introduction of a life time.

* * *

**Anonymous asked: Since we are talking about games. Rindy and Therese are one team and Carol and Abby are one team in a snowball fight. Carol is obviously letting them win and shoots Abby a death stare everytime she hits a little too hard. But tables are turned when Rindy decides to team up with her, now she has no room for sympathy and is pelting Abby and Therese with snowballs while Rindy quickly makes them for her. Laughs are had and Therese ends up lunging for Carol, pushing both of them onto a bed of snow.**

(There’s something in the way Carol squeals when Therese sticks her cold hands under Carol’s coat and on the back of her neck that makes Therese feel like this is it, this is finally a home.

Well. She _knows_ it’s a home. Knows it’s name is love, but every now and then these moments just bubble up and it’s everything she never had. She thinks it’s perfect till Rindy hits her in the side of the head with a snowball, and her peals of laughter only get louder when Carol scoops her up to high five her and oh _now_ it’s perfect.)

* * *

**Anonymous asked: Scrabble in the belivard household always ends up with Abby being a complete drunken mess, spelling out inappropriate words whilst Carol who is equally as drunk laughs and winks in Therese's general direction as Therese scrambles to break up the word before Rindy sees and asks what it means, whilst shooting Carol and Abby death glares and trying not to laugh herself.**

“With the ‘P’ on the double letter score and the ‘C’ landing on the triple word score that lands me with….57.” 

The board gets spun and Carol has to fight the laugh that would surely spray her drink across the board and Abby’s fabulous word choice.

“Oh _marvellous._ Joining from that….and the ‘X’ is a double letter so 17. Therese write that down, I get 17 for.. _s e x_.” 

Therese is already dismantling Abby’s word and so its a mess, Carol’s simultaneously trying to put her tiles down while stopping Therese from removing them because its just too funny, and really its just a minute long hand holding session while Abby helps Rindy pick out her next choice. 

(There’s a milk break later and Therese has to remind Carol that Rindy _can spell,_ not saying the word out loud doesn’t do anything.She also threatens to cut Abby off if she tries to spell the word Sapphic again or tells Rindy to place the F down next to the U C and K. “She had a T and R Abby! What’s wrong with Truck?! I dont care if F has higher points!”

Meanwhile Carol is shooting Therese serious bedroom eyes across the table because Therese flushed and humorously indignant is something she can get on board with. Literally.)  


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so we talk about how Rindy calling Therese is the cutest but please consider the first time Therese refers to Rindy as our daughter in front of Carol.

Harge promising that Rindy can stay one weekend, only to call on the Friday night and cancel. 

Therese is pacing outside of the bathroom because Carol’s in the shower and for the first time since they’ve moved in she’s actually locked the damned door and it makes Therese feel so helpless, literally being locked out and unable to help.

Therese is normally outwardly calm no matter what because she makes everything she feels explode on the inside. That way she can’t hurt anyone but herself with how she feels, but this, this is too much so she can’t help that her emotions are bubbling out and she’s just ranting to the empty room that’s got the train set sitting sadly in the corner because it was pulled out in preparation for the days Rindy should have been there. 

“He can’t just use our daughter as a bargaining chip Carol. Talk about fucking _morality_ and he does this. It’s not right.”

The door to the bathroom swinging open and Carol’s stood there, no towel and soaked, dripping all over the new carpet- which she’ll be cross about in the morning, but for now she just stands there back lit with steam pouring past her from the still running shower. 

Asking Therese to repeat what she said. Asking Therese if she meant it. Asking Therese to confirm that they’re in this as a unit; not a fractured mother, child and _other_. They are a unit. They are two mothers with a daughter and its the final piece of the puzzle that makes a complete picture, that strengthens the foundations of everything that already exists. 

Therese doesn’t even realise until later how much it meant to Carol in that moment that she’d said those words because she hadn’t given it much thought before saying it. Originally she’d thought Carol was asking her if she really meant Harge was an ass. But the moment that Carol calls out that Rindy has arrived (a month later….Harge was an  _ass_ ) with a casual “Darling our daughter is here.” it hits her that this is it. She’s not just found the one woman she loves the most in the world, but rather, she’s found two of them. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Therese suggests going up to the roof because it's quiet out and there is a little bit of a view from the roof. She shows Carol how the lights of New York glisten in the distance and how she always thought of the story behind every light. One is of a billboard while the other of a bedroom, what was the reason for them to be there. Therese talks because she wants Carol to want to tell her, she wants her to trust her. After talks of the road trip, they keep sitting and watching the snow.

This means Therese guides Carol up to the roof, which allows Carol to have the gay gaze of booty and I’m like 110% down for that. 

It also allows Therese to turn and take Carol’s hand to help her over the tricky last step. Theres a piece of wood from the door’s frame that sticks up before a hidden step down on the other side, and she goes from holding Carol’s hand to supporting her forearm until she is safely through. 

It means Carol gets to see Therese looking at her, backlit by small flickering lights, something she allows herself to enjoy in it’s simplicity before she remembers _morality clauses_ and _divorces_ and the weight of who she is presses back down on her. (And oh, for one moment Therese hadn’t just supported her through the door, she’d supported her through the hardest day.) 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Reacting to the other one crying about something

When Therese cries Carol envelops her in hugs and nudges her nose along the edge of her jaw, making sure that she knows that she’s loved, that someones there and _hush everything will be ok._ Carol wraps herself around Therese and cups her cheek and talks things through because she knows that Therese keeps it all inside and its not healthy. She has to tell Therese that crying isn’t a weakness, that she wont think less of her for letting it out.

When Carol cries Therese reaches out, more often than not with hesitancy, because she’s not sure on whether or not Carol needs space or needs comfort, but she always reaches out. She’s never been allowed to comfort someone before, never been that singular person that helps improves someones mood. Slowly she begins to learn when Carol needs a hand at her shoulder, or a hand a her waist, and when she needs to curl on top of the bed alone until she’s ready for Therese to join her. 

*

The first time Carol cries after sex Therese is terrified. She adopts Carol’s reactions, sliding her arms around Carol waist and rubs their cheeks together until her tears have eased and Therese’s concerned questions are answered with a reassuring, albeit watery, smile.

*

The first time Therese cries with laughter Carol is delighted. They’d blown off the idea of brunch to lay tangled in the sun warmed sheets, when Carol had made an offhanded comment about savouring a far more enjoyable breakfast in bed. Therese’s scandalised gasp had dissolved into laughter at Carol’s faux innocent look and caught up somewhere between the rush of endorphins and the terrible joke, Therese was left clutching at her side while Carol just watched fondly, letting her hand rest gently against Therese’s. 


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One falling asleep with their head in the other's lap.

Therese has never been given anything more intimate, nor anything so precious, than this moment.

She thinks back to the gloves sitting at the bottom of her tin locker at school and wonders if, at that time, she could have imagined something that meant just as much to her, something just as perfect as the gift she never wore. 

She thinks back to the eye contact before their first kiss, how her heart had been so wild and yet her mind so calm. It’s the same now, only she’s not sure if human hearts are built to contain such an overwhelming amount of love. 

Therese considers letting her head fall back against the sofas cushion, closing her eyes and joining Carol in her mid-afternoon nap, but she wants to remember every second of this happiness. Instead she allows her thumb to rub the small soothing circles Carol so enjoys against her hairline and, judging by the almost inaudible mewl of approval, Therese has made the right choice. 

She picks up the book that she’d been softly reading out loud and slots in an old postcard that doubles as her bookmark. There would be plenty of time to finish it later. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who is the nerd who gets really upset over a book/fictional character and who consoles?

The book takes Therese only two days to devour. 

She picks it in passing from the books piled on their floor, where they’ve been left. Every time Carol tries to neatly arrange them on the shelf there’s an argument about how they should be stored. Carol argues alphabetical order of authors and Therese argues in favour for alphabetical order of titles, but only so Carol throws her hair back over her shoulder and levels her with a _look_  till they eventually kiss and they forget about storing the books. 

Therese is more than happy to store them the way Carol wants, but it’s been three weeks since Therese officially moved in and the books are still sat on the floor.

She starts it Friday night as Carol is dabbing night cream to the corner of her eyes, and continues as Carol is brushing her teeth the next morning. She receives a kiss the the cheek distractedly, and Carol’s chuckle is lost between the words on the page. The day is spent in one big nothing, with neither woman changing out of casual clothing, nor venturing outside. Therese spends most of the day curled up reading, one hand on the book, one hand curled around Carol’s foot circling a delicate ankle bone. 

Saturday night is more of the same, only in bed. Therese reads by the light from her bedside table (and if she wasn’t so absorbed in her book, the idea of having a bedside table would be one that makes her breathless) until Carol joins her under the sheets and rolls to kiss her cheek. Therese blindly puts the book down with one hand, already threading her fingers through the hair at the nape of Carols neck with other. 

Sunday afternoon brings the beginning of the pain. It’s mainly that Therese doesn’t want it to end. There are questions that she fears will be left unanswered and characters she’s become invested with. She’s read it fast, too fast almost, and it’s over all too soon. When she closes the book she’s embarrassed to feel the tears on her cheeks. 

There’s only a beat before Carol’s hand is at her neck, thumb soothing her quickened pulse (and much like Carol startled when Therese first comforted her, Therese jumps too) but instead of that evening in which beers were offered, Carol only holds a sweet and milky tea. 

There’s a moment where Therese feels silly and childish for needed comfort because a book but Carol’s doesn’t waste time, squeezing in between her and the armrest, to tell her how much she had cried too. How its _okay_ to cry at words. How words are written to evoke and inspire and the author would probably be honoured at the emotion they’ve created in her. How it’s fascinating how they can read the same book at different ages, different times in their lives and yet still share this feeling. 

Therese just smiles, because of course Carol would try to make it better, and so earnestly too. They share the tea together, Therese carefully lining up her lips to sip from the same space as Carol. 

There’s a moment where she closes her eyes and dozes gently caught in the bliss that is 5pm in the space between Carol’s arm, until Carol nudges her awake. She dips her head in question towards the pile of books.

“What shall we read next?” 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Rindy calling out "mom!" And when Carol responds she says "not you, the other one!"

“MOM!” The call bounces through the hallway before the tiny body that comes hurtling after it. “ _Mooooom?_ ”

Carol drops everything she’s carrying on the table by the doorway and rushes over to intersect the running girl, falling to her knees to inspect her daughter. 

“Yes darling?” She’s already checking every limb for injury, making sure every hair on her head is safe. “What is it?”

“Oh! Mommy!” Rindy flushes slightly and pulls away from Carol’s hands that are still bodily checking her. “Sorry, I didn’t know you were here. I need Mom not you.” 

“I see how it is.” Carol faux sighs, standing to brush invisible dust off her slightly wrinkled skirt. “I guess that present I bought home will have to go to some other little girl then…” She doesn’t manage to finish before Rindy cuts her off with a squeal of laughter. 

“Noooo! Don’t be silly Mommy!” Rindy grabs her hand and starts pulling her down the hallway she’d just run up. “I just wanted to see if Mom wanted to have a dinner party with me, but now you’re here you’ll do!”

Carol stands in the doorway of Rindy’s room and takes in the scene, a small table set up with a variety of dinner guests. There’s the stuffed elephant Therese had bought her last week when they’d visited the zoo and her favourite stuffed Teddy, amongst others. The tea set was a gift from Carol, one she only feels pangs of regret for in moments like this. 

“Well now, this really is something isn’t darling? But I think I should still fetch Mom so she can share your delicious tea with us.”

“Okay!” 

* * *

She finds Therese in the kitchen, making up a plate of biscuits and cups and suddenly Carol feels herself transported back to the day Therese had first visited her house. 

“Here,” She says, walking up behind her and letting her hand fall to the dip of Therese’s waist. “Let me give you a hand.”  
  
Therese doesn’t startle, but does turn her head to allow Carol to kiss her hello.

“How was work today?” She asks softly. 

“Oh the usual,” Carol starts. “I swear had Dante ever worked retail at the weekend, he would have made it a circle of hell.”

Therese laughs lightly leaning in to kiss Carol once more. “You’re home now though.”

Carol’s eyes light up as she smiles. “With my angels. That’s some poetry right there.”

Therese blushes and turns to pick up the tray. “I overheard something about a tea party?”

“Hmmm.” Carol hums as they start walking side by side back to Rindy’s room. “Mom huh? That’s new.” 

 


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: Broken, as you clutch the sleeve of my jacket and beg me not to leave, belivaird. I feel like crying today.

Therese wanted to be sick again, right here on Carol’s doorstep. 

“Please,” She choked out. “Don’t do this, we can-”

Carol tore Therese hand away from where it curled desperately into her jacket sleeve, leaving behind a crease. 

“No.” Carol sighed wearily. “There’s no ‘we’ Therese. You need to stop phoning.”

Therese swallowed harshly. She had stopped phoning. She had stopped wondering and wishing and _praying_ that Carol would come back when Carol had phoned _her_ and tipped her whole damned world on its side. _Again._  

“Carol.” She tried again, attempting to get past Carol’s waving hands to get purchase on her once more. “Carol, just come with me. Please.” 

Carol looked so tired and weak. The grey fire in her eyes that she’d fallen in love with was now just a dreary mist, consuming any sign of vitality, her skin a sickly pallor. 

Carol sighed again, trying not to let the emotions tearing at the back of her throat painfully make her voice waver in its absolution. “And you can never show up here again. You need to promise me Therese.” Carol grasped at her wrists painfully. “I need you to promise me, never show up here again.”

Therese let out a sob. “This isn’t releasing me.” She didn’t say that she felt like it would kill her, but it didn’t need to be said to be heard. 

“Oh, my angel.” Carol dared to cup Therese’s tear slick cheek in her hand. “This isn’t the end for you,” She tried to steady her voice and failed. “I just can’t be present for the rest of your story. You must trust me, that this is all for the best.”

Therese curled her hands into Carol’s and was allowed to hold them for a moment before Carol pulled away, one hand moving to her chest and the other to her door. 

Therese knew Carol would shut the door in moments and that it would be over, Carol’s midnight phone call forgotten. There wouldn’t be another show of weakness, Therese would be expected to move on, forget the winter she fell in love and make it nothing more than an anecdote to tell in later years.

“But I love you.” Therese stated plainly. “Don’t do this.”

Carol’s lip wobbled for a second before she bit down, her fingers curling into the wood of the door. “I love you.” She said brokenly, before taking a trembling breath and correcting herself, looking straight into Therese’s eyes. “I loved you.” 

It would be easier this way, she thought, closing the door. 

 


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The way I say I love you: From very far away

“I love you.” 

Therese isn’t sure if it’s the phone line that cracks or Carol’s voice, so she chooses not to mention it, wrapping her hand firmer around the receiver like it would be possible to bring Carol closer to her. 

“I love you too,” She whispers, hoping Carol can hear how much she means it in this moment. “Come home soon? I miss you.”

There’s another sound that comes down the line, it could be more static or uneven breathing, but before Therese can ask about it Carol speaks. 

“As soon as I can, God, just as soon as I can my darling.” Carol sniffs. 

There’s more sound and it’s clear that Carol has occupied the phone for as long as she can. They say their quick goodbyes and the line goes dead, but it’s several minutes before Therese actually places the receiver back down, unhappy in the knowledge that it wasn’t just static she heard.

**

There are three planes, a taxi and two weeks after the phone call before Carol is home again. 

Carol swears vehemently that work will never cause her to be away for so long ever again, claiming that if it’s required to go, she will just pack Therese in her suitcase alongside her socks, and Therese just smiles indulgently. 

There’s a 5 minute aborted attempt at unpacking before Carol leaves the suitcase on the bed and goes to lean against the doorway that joins the bedroom and the main room together.

Therese is moving around the room, collecting a few stray cups off the low coffee table and straightening the few letters that arrived for Carol is the three weeks she was gone.

Carol allows herself to stand for a couple minutes watching as Therese wanders round, enjoying the domestic nature of it all before sighing happily. 

“I love you.”

Therese stops what she’s doing and stands to face Carol. She smiles a slow smile, one Carol used to mistake as hesitancy and now understands as decadent- like Therese is constantly taking her time to enjoy the time she shares with Carol. 

“Why are you telling me from all the way over there?” Therese asks. “Where you’re very far away.”

Carol rectifies the distance immediately. 

 


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ways to say I love you: 30. Over your shoulder Carol x Therese?

It’s a gorgeous photo, but the problem of taking photos of Carol is that they’re all gorgeous. 

Maybe she’s bias.

Therese rinses it in the basin and clips it up to drip dry, tilting her head to look at it clearly. She can’t remember exactly where she took it but its one of her best.

In the photo Carol is walking in front of her and Therese has managed to capture the exact moment she looked over her shoulder to check that she was still there. Therese has a tendency to wander, caught up in the plethora of sights to see through the lens of a camera, so Carol has grown into the habit of checking that she’s not talking to dead air.

Therese might not remember taking the photo but she can see clear as day what would have happened in the moments after, it’s what happens every time Therese takes a candid photo of Carol. It’s like a routine. Carol waves her hand and makes a faux protest of being caught unaware and Therese will claim that she simply had to. 

It comes back to her vaguely. The bridge in Budapest where she had said the lighting had been to good to deny. 

She smiles softly. The lighting _had_ been good, it hits Carol’s hair in a way that makes in glow, beams threading through the collar of her fur coat leaving a soft blur of shadows across her chin. 

Aesthetically it is gorgeous, bias or not, but what Therese loves most about the photo are Carol’s eyes. They’re shining clearer than the sun, looking out of the paper with such strength that Therese swears she can actually hear Carol whispering “ _I love you_ ” as she stood above the waters of the river Danube, pretending to fix Therese’s hair just so she could lean close.

Therese turns back to the basins to develop more, biting her lip gently not quite succeeding in hiding her smile. It’s been 2 whole years, and yet Carol still surprises her in the variety of ways she’s able to convey her love. It shouldn’t be too surprising that she’s managed to do it through a photo. 


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> jellysnack asked: 34. Carol x Therese things you said in your sleep

There are rare nights where Carol wears Therese out so deliciously that she sleeps completely still, breathing in and out restfully. 

Most nights, however, Therese is a restless sleeper, shifting and muttering all hours of the nights. 

Having slept in a bed by herself for so long, it takes a while for Carol to adjust, finding the right balance between holding Therese close when she fidgets and giving her space when elbows and knees flail. 

In the mornings Carol will raise an eyebrow and ask Therese if she slept well, and when she hears Therese answer in the affirmative Carol will only mutter about the joys of youth before kissing her. 

**

Carol has wrapped herself around Therese like a vine, holding her close, Therese’s lips pressed against her throat and Carol’s hand traces gently patterns at the small of her back.

Carol’s considering the work involved in knocking down the wall in the spare room to make a home office when Therese shifts and mutters.

“That will be $15 please.” Therese mumbles. “Don’t forget your C.O.D. slip.” 

Carol bites her lip and tries not to wake Therese up by shaking with laughter. It’s been months since Therese worked at Frankenberg’s but apparently the place has left a lingering impression. 

She lies still, trying to figure out if she needs to untangle in case Therese decides to restock shelves in her sleep, the possibility of being winded with misplaced arm is not high on her list of thing’s she wants to deal with. 

Therese moans a little and wet’s her lips, wriggling down into the embrace and Carol relaxes slightly. 

“Mrs Aird.” Therese sighs.

Carol’s eyebrow quirks up of it’s on volition. 

“I’ll deliver the train set tomorrow.” She mumbles. “You smell good.”

Carol can’t help it. She lets out a low chuckle and Therese let’s out another sleepy mewl. 

“No, don’t go.”

Carol instantly sombers, tightening her arms around Therese kissing her forehead gently. She doesn’t move her lips away to whisper into Therese’s hair.

“I wont. Not again.” 

For someone who sleeps so energetically, Therese is easily woken, yet Carol isn’t regretful that her whisper wakes her. If she can save Therese from another nightmare she will.

“Carol?” Therese whispers tiredly.

“It’s ok darling,” Carol replies. “Go back to sleep. I’m here.”

“Oh,” Therese rubs her head against Carol’s collarbone blissfully unaware of talking in her sleep. “That’s nice.” 


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anonymous asked: 27) things you said on the phone at 4 am, Carol and Therese. (And I just have to say your little fics are amazing 

“Carol?” It’s meant to be a whisper but it leaves her as more of a slur. She’s propped up against the payphone on the corner of a block that feels miles away from where she wants to be right now, Carol’s arms. 

“Therese?” Carol’s voice is definitely a whisper which makes no sense, so Therese laughs.

“Why are you whispering?!”

There’s a ruffled sound of bedsheets before Carol speaks. “Why are you calling at….4am, Christ Therese, where are you? I thought you were staying at-”

“I don’t know,” Therese cuts in with a whine. “But I miss you.” 

Suddenly the alcohol hits her in a melancholic wave and it’s sobering. It makes her aware of a sharp need to be held and she remembers that’s what made her pick up the payphone to begin with.

“Will you pick me up?” 

“Will I-” There’s a sigh followed with more muffled sounds of Carol getting out of bed. “Where are you?”

Therese really doesn’t know, squinting through the dark to try and make out the numbers the the block corners. 

“Corner of 55th?”

The sound eases at the end of the line and Carol lets of a very careful and patient sigh. “On Madison? You’re only two blocks away darling. Stay there I’ll come meet you.” 

“You will?” 

Carol extracts a promise that Therese will wait at the phone for her and only 10 minutes pass before she arrives, a vision in a checked bathrobe, slippers, with curlers in her hair. 

“Carol,” Therese sighs “I missed you.”

Carol smiles tiredly and bundles Therese up tightly in a spare coat she’d thought to bring along. “You saw me earlier before you left to go meet your friends.”

“I know,” Therese says mournfully, then pauses to consider what she wants to say next. “Do you ever think it will stop feeling like this?” 

“Like what?”

“Like it’s all new? Do you think it will stop feeling so consuming?” 

Carol reaches out and tugs Therese close, revelling in the fact that they can be stood this close, looking at each other with undisguised affection outside, even if it is only because of the early hour. 

She takes a second to contemplate it with a level of exaggeration before breaking out into a slow grin. Leaning down she kisses Therese gently on alcohol stained lips. “I don’t think so.” 

 


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Lipstick

Carol’s never thought much about the colour of her lipstick beyond matching her outfit.

There’s little else to think about, up until Therese.

*

Carol learns quickly that different lipstick brands and colours wear differently. Some smudge off against martini glasses and some stain the skin of a young woman’s neck and thighs.

Red’s are Carol’s favourite. Striking on the face and lust inducing as a blurr against someone else’s mouth.

The subtle purples are saved for the colder months and look divine next to the bruises left on Therese’s neck.

There’s an experiment in the spring with paler pinks, although Carol quickly abandons the tube she purchased when it clashes with the tone of Therese’s skin.

*

It’s become a routine for Therese to join Carol in picking new colours, even though she never really understands the need. They stand side by side in front of the counters and occasionally Carol will lift Therese’s hand and streak colour across it, assessing the way it sits on her skin. Only once some unknown test is met will Carol let the colour sit on her own lips.

**Author's Note:**

> None of these have been beta'ed so I apologise for any mistakes or shoddy grammar. If you spot something, please feel free to point it out! 
> 
> Also you can find me on tumblr at delightfullyambiguous - come say hi!


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